Air Jamaica is the national airline of Jamaica. Air Jamaica is one of the Caribbean Island's major airlines, along with Cubana and BWIA.

Code data

• IATA Code: JM
• ICAO Code: AJM
• Callsign: Jamaica

History

Air Jamaica Airbus A340 (6Y-JMM)

Another view of 6Y-JMM

Air Jamaica traces its roots to April 1969, when it connected Kingston and Montego Bay, with New York and Miami. At that time the Jamaican government owned a substantial part of the airline, with Air Canada owning a minor share and providing technical, maintenance and logistical help.

During the 1970s, Air Jamaica saw a huge expansion. Flights were added to Toronto and Montreal in Canada, to Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in Puerto Rico, to Philadelphia and many other destinations, especially across the Caribbean. Air Jamaica used DC-8s for a large part of the '70s, but the L-1011 Tristar and Boeing 727 jets became a part of the fleet towards the end of the decade when the government bought over Air Canada's small share.

During the 1980s, the growth slowed. Nevertheless, new routes were still opened, to Baltimore and Atlanta.

During the 1990s Air Jamaica continued to expand: the airline took over the Kingston-Nassau route, which had been left by British Airways, began a code sharing agreement with Delta Airlines and opened routes to Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix (which was later dropped), and to Frankfurt, London, Manchester Airport, Santo Domingo and Ft. Lauderdale. The route to Phoenix was opened because Air Jamaica was looking for expansion in the American West, beyond its route to Los Angeles. In 1994 the company was privatized, and, later, its owners decided to return 25 percent of the company to the government, giving 5 percent of it to the airline's employees and retaining 70 percent. It started buying Airbus equipment, including the A340 airplane, and began a feeder service, a frequent flyer program (7th Heaven), and an inflight magazine, named SkyWritings. It also named a new president, Gordon Butch Stewart . The airline also underwent a livery change during that decade.

Air Jamaica has now opened a large operations base in Saint Lucia. Its symbol is a yellow bird with skinny wings, (to make them look like a AJ), drawn on a blue and purple colored tail

Fleet

The Air Jamaica fleet consists of the following aircraft (at February 2005):

• 11 Airbus A320
• 6 Airbus A321
• 3 Airbus A340 (for flights to London and New York)

External links

• Air Jamaica
• Air Jamaica Fleet Detail
• Air Jamaica Passenger Opinions